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Battle

High in the Cascade range of Southern Oregon, a Battle has been playing out: ODFW vs Chub. With millions of dollars waged on this war, and acts of akin to dropping an atomic bomb on the Chub ( killing many many others as well ) – the mighty chub keeps coming back.

The Battle Field – Diamond Lake, 2010

A great story is can be read over at OPB – but essentially now ODFW has stocked Diamond Lake with 5,000 Tiger Trout ( which are fun to catch ) with hopes of the new ( non-native ) fish will nom-nom all the chub. A similar approach was taken at East Lake with blackwater rainbow trout, and it seems to be working there – though I still see/hook chub while there.

The irony of the story though, is the fact that so much money is being poured into a sport trout fishery – while nearby native runs of Salmon and Steelhead are in dire need of support. Money follows money once again – hopefully the tiger trout can do their job and resources can be dedicated to preserving native fish runs.

Update: 6/23/16

The irony of this post – I fished East Lake yesterday afternoon near the far Cinder Hill boat ramp, and I caught three chub. I have never caught that many chub ever – anywhere. Not a good sign. 🙁